|
This Candy Cummings woodcut originated from an
1870 issue of The World Newspaper, which was a general New York
publication of the day similar to present day NY Daily News or
NY Post. The woodcut actually accompanied an article written about
the Brooklyn Stars victory the previous day along with text detailing
Cummings' exploits as the winning pitcher. As for woodcuts, they
were primarily used by publications during the 1850's - 1880's
as printing photographs at that time was extremely costly. The
woodcut process involved an artist taking a photograph and engraving
the image into a block of wood and then inking the raised edges
of the wooden image to print the portrait in large quantities.
These woodcuts were more often done for baseball teams than individual
players and many are catalogued in Lew Lipset's 19th Century Baseball
Card Encyclopedia. This example is in incredible shape for a piece
that's over 140 years old and it has been authenticated by Beckett
Grading Services.
|